As nursing students that began nursing school during the COVID-19 pandemic, we chose to start our future careers in the healthcare industry by joining the Felician University ABSN Program. This hybrid program allowed many students with difficult work and life schedules to handle and manage their studies on their own time, and be able to take exams remotely from our home using remote monitoring. The aspect of being able to do things remotely has always been a welcoming relief for many students, but now that COVID-19 regulations are starting to lift in NJ starting September 2021, our remote test taking is being changed to onsite. This change affects many students, whether it is in relation to scheduling, financial, or traveling difficulties, since many students live in a different state or over 2 hours away. Many students have to travel far distances to the campus that require tolls within New Jersey and New York. In addition, the inflation of current gas prices can significantly cause financial difficulties for nursing students. The accommodation of gas and toll prices for nursing students can be challenging as many of us either have to work or rely on loans to upkeep the daily expenses.

As we enter our last semester and begin to focus greatly on our upcoming NCLEX, we should be allowed to continue with remote proctored test taking. It is not fair to change the way we have been able to manage our studies and exams in the last year, since this hybrid program emphasized its “do-it-on-your-own-pace”, which was a huge appealing aspect of this program. Allowing us to continue with home proctored exams will help us finish our last semester on a good note, as well as allowing us to maintain our greatest focus on our future NCLEX exam, so that we may join the nursing healthcare workforce.

Please sign if you agree with the above statements.